Activision Blizzard revealed their financial results for the second quarter of 2017, and they’re better than expected. Here’s a look at what was noted in the results.

Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, said, “This was another strong quarter for Activision Blizzard. We exceeded our outlook and delivered record revenues for the first half of 2017.”

Here’s some key points which were revealed in the report.

Regular content and feature updates across the portfolio enabled deeper player engagement and therefore player investment.

Audience Reach

Activision Blizzard had 407 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs)B in the quarter.

Blizzard had the biggest quarterly online player community in its history with a record 46 million MAUsB, up 38% year-over-year. The Overwatchcommunity continued to grow more than a year after launch, setting another all-time MAUB record with the release of two seasonal events in the quarter. Hearthstone®MAUsB grew year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter to an all-time record, driven by its expansion, Journey to Un’Goro™.

Activision had 47 million MAUsB in the second quarter, down slightly year-over-year. The launch of Zombies Chronicles led to a MAUB increase quarter-over-quarter in Call of Duty®: Black Ops III.Activision also released Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy for PS4, a collection of remastered Crash Bandicoot™ classic titles. Despite only two days of sales on a single platform, it was the number one console title globally in June based on units.1

Activision and its partners at Bungie expect to release Destiny2 on September 6, 2017 for consoles and on October 24, 2017 for PC. The Destiny 2console Beta had more total players than the 2014 Destiny Beta, and Destiny 2 pre-orders are now above the first Destiny. Activision expects to release Call of Duty: WWII on November 3, 2017. Momentum on pre-orders and hands-on feedback have been strong.

King had 314 million MAUsB for the quarter, down year-over-year, but with better gross bookingsC per paying user. King had two of the top-10 highest-grossing titles in the U.S. mobile app stores for the fifteenth quarter in a row.2

Deep Engagement

Blizzard had Q2-record time spent. In April, Blizzard launched Uprising, an Overwatch seasonal event that included a player-versus-environment mode that drew record play time. Overwatch‘s Anniversary event in May and June also drove strong engagement with record participation in customization items. Time spent in World of Warcraft® grew year-over-year in the second quarter, and the Legion™expansion continued to perform ahead of the prior expansion.

King’s live operations and new content continue to drive strong engagement with steady time spent at 35 minutes per day and players engaging more frequently.

Blizzard announced the first seven team sales for the Overwatch League, the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams, and the league is set to begin its inaugural competitive season later this year.

Blizzard announced a live-streaming media rights partnership for esports and in-game content across a number of franchises, but excluding Overwatch League content.

Activision’s Call of Duty World League will culminate in its Championships held in Orlando in August.

Player Investment

Activision Blizzard delivered nearly $1 billion of in-game revenues in the quarter with record performance in the first half of 2017.

King’s gross bookingsC per paying user grew for the 8th quarter in a row to a new record. Strong engagement and player investment led to an increase in mobile gross bookingsC year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s Zombies Chronicles, Activision’s first large content drop in year two after a game launch, not only drove purchases of that specific piece of content, but also led to higher engagement and to add-on revenues for that game.

Blizzard’s Overwatch, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and Diablo®III, which debuted new content during the quarter, drove strong in-game participation.

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